The present invention relates to an endoscope system which has a bending portion formed from a hydropneumatic actuator on the distal end of an elongated insertion portion to be inserted into a tubular cavity and can be applied to, for example, an industrial endoscope and medical endoscope.
In general, an endoscope that can be applied to, for example, both an industrial endoscope and a medical endoscope has an elongated insertion portion to be inserted into a tubular cavity. An endoscope of this type has a bending portion on the distal end portion of the insertion portion. An operator can set the observation direction of the endoscope in an arbitrary direction by bending this bending portion.
As a bending portion attached to the distal end portion of an insertion portion, for example, a bending portion having a pneumatic actuator is described in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication Nos. 4-135570 and 5-305053.
In addition, the bending portion described in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 5-76600 has a protective member around the outer surface of an actuator which changes in length in the axial direction and in diameter. This protective member restricts the expansion of the actuator in the radial direction.
A bending portion of this type includes an elastic tubular member on the distal end portion of an insertion portion. A plurality of pressurization chambers are arranged on the tube wall of this elastic tubular member along the circumferential direction. Pneumatic pressures are selectively supplied to the pressurization chambers to pressurize them. As a consequence, the elastic tubular member is bent in a direction opposite to the pressurized pressurization chambers.
An endoscope system is generally comprised of an endoscope body, a light source unit connected to the endoscope body, a CCU (Camera Control Unit), and the like. An endoscope system has been proposed, which has improved portability by housing the constituents of the system in one cart or a small case.
Consideration similar to that given to the endoscope system designed to improve portability in the above manner is given to an endoscope having a pneumatic actuator in a bending portion. The above conventional endoscope having the pneumatic actuator requires a relatively large compressor as a pneumatic source for bending the pneumatic actuator. For this reason, the endoscope system increases in size as a whole, and the portability deteriorates.
In the endoscope having the bending mechanism using the pneumatic actuator, the bending portion is bent by sending air supplied from the compressor, which is an external unit connected to the endoscope body, to the pneumatic actuator on the distal end side of the insertion portion through the air duct inserted into the insertion portion of the endoscope body.
If, however, the insertion portion of the endoscope is long, it takes much time to send air from the compressor to the pneumatic actuator. This causes a time lag in bending operation, and may interfere with accurate bending operation.
In addition, in the endoscope having the bending mechanism using the pneumatic actuator, the elastic tubular member of the bending portion is made of an extensible material such as silicone resin. A compressed fluid is selectively supplied to a plurality of pressurization chambers disposed on the tube wall of this elastic tubular member to pressurize the pressurization chambers, thereby bending the bending portion. A bend tube formed from an elastic tubular member, however, exhibits a unique phenomenon of hysteresis with respect to an increase/decrease in pressure. This makes it difficult to match bending operation using the operating portion at hand with the bending operation of the bending portion.
With a protective member like the one described in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 5-76600, which is placed around the outer surface of an elastic tubular member, an attempt has been made to restrict the expansion of the elastic tubular member in the radial direction by using the protective member as a restricting member when pneumatic pressures are supplied to pressurization chambers in the elastic tubular member so as to extend the pressurization chambers only in the axis direction, thereby efficiently bending the bending portion and preventing the bending portion from extremely expanding when it is bent.
A protective member like the one described in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 5-76600 is smaller in change amount than an elastic tubular member when extending in the axial direction. If, therefore, a protective member like the one described in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 5-76600 is placed around the outer surface of the elastic tubular member, the bending operation of the bending portion tends to be restricted by the protective member during the bending operation of the bending portion. This makes it difficult to set a large bending angle for the bending portion, posing a problem in improving bending performance.
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above situation, and has as its object to provide an endoscope system in which excellent controllability is realized in an endoscope having a bending mechanism using a pneumatic actuator at the distal end portion of a long insertion portion.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an endoscope system with excellent portability of the overall system.
In order to achieve the above objects, according to the present invention, there is provided an endoscope system having image sensing means at a distal end of an insertion portion to be inserted into a tubular cavity under examination, a bending portion behind the image sensing means, and a hydropneumatic actuator for bending the bending portion with a hydropneumatic pressure, comprising:
a cylinder filled with a fluid to be supplied to the hydropneumatic actuator;
a fluid flow rate adjusting portion for adjusting a flow rate of fluid supplied from the cylinder;
a control unit for controlling the fluid flow rate adjusting portion; and
an operating portion for operating a controlled variable of the control unit.
An endoscope system can therefore be provided, in which excellent controllability is realized in an endoscope having a bending mechanism using a pneumatic actuator at the distal end portion of a long insertion portion.
According to the present invention, there is provided an endoscope system having image sensing means at a distal end of an insertion portion to be inserted into a tubular cavity under examination, a bending portion behind the image sensing means, and a hydropneumatic actuator for bending the bending portion with a hydropneumatic pressure,
the hydropneumatic actuator having a multi lumen tube, and
the multi lumen tube being constituted by
a central hole housing a built-in member, and
a plurality of pressurization chambers arranged around the central hole, comprising:
a syringe for supplying a fluid to the hydropneumatic actuator;
an actuator for driving the syringe back and forth;
a control unit for controlling the actuator; and
an operating portion for operating a controlled variable of the control unit.
According to the present invention, the fluid supplied from the syringe as a fluid source is supplied to one of the pressurization chambers around the hole of the multi lumen tube to bend the hydropneumatic actuator in a direction opposite to the pressurized pressurization chamber. An endoscope system can therefore be provided, in which excellent controllability is realized in an endoscope having a bending mechanism using a hydropneumatic actuator at the distal end portion of a long insertion portion.
In addition, according to the present invention, there is provided an endoscope system having image sensing means at a distal end of an insertion portion to be inserted into a tubular cavity under examination, a bending portion behind the image sensing means, and a hydropneumatic actuator for bending the bending portion with a hydropneumatic pressure,
the hydropneumatic actuator having a multi lumen tube, the multi lumen tube being constituted by
a central hole housing a built-in member, and
a plurality of pressurization chambers arranged around the central hole, and
the bending portion having a cylindrical member that is extensible in an axial direction, and
bending portion protecting means mounted on an outer surface between front and rear ends of the bending portion while the cylindrical member is made shorter than a natural length in an axial direction of the bending portion.
An endoscope system can therefore be provided, in which excellent controllability is realized in an endoscope having a bending mechanism using a hydropneumatic actuator at the distal end portion of a long insertion portion.
Furthermore, according to the present invention, there is provided an endoscope system having image sensing means at a distal end of an insertion portion to be inserted into a tubular cavity under examination, a bending portion behind the image sensing means, and a hydropneumatic actuator for bending the bending portion with a hydropneumatic pressure,
the hydropneumatic actuator having a multi lumen tube, the multi lumen tube being constituted by
a central hole housing a built-in member, and
a plurality of pressurization chambers arranged around the central hole, comprising:
a take-up drum which can take up the insertion portion and in which the hydropneumatic actuator is housed;
a cylinder for supplying a fluid to the hydropneumatic actuator in the drum;
a housing case for integrally housing the insertion portion and the drum;
a control unit for controlling a fluid amount in the cylinder housed in the housing case or the drum; and
an operating portion which can be housed in the housing case and operates a controlled variable of the control unit,
wherein the operating portion includes
a monitor for displaying a picture from the image sensing means,
controlled variable display means, placed on a display screen of the monitor or near the monitor, for displaying a controlled variable of the control unit, and
a touch panel which is placed on the display screen of the monitor to display a press on a surface of the monitor and a position of the press, and
a controlled variable of the control unit is adjusted in accordance with a press position signal from the touch panel.
According to the present invention, the drum around which the insertion portion is wound is integrally housed in the housing case, and the hydropneumatic pressure control portion having the hydropneumatic pressure source for supplying a fluid to the hydropneumatic actuator and the fluid supply amount control unit for controlling the hydropneumatic pressure source is also housed in the housing case or drum. In addition, the operating portion for operating the controlled variable of the fluid supply amount control unit can be housed in the housing case. An endoscope system having excellent portability of the overall system can therefore be provided.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter.